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Every stomach muscle underneath me tensed up in unison.
“Fuck, okay then,” he grunted, and a glassy haze seemed to cloud over his eyes. He let out a hiss as my fingertips landed on the place where his protrusion connected, and his whole demeanor seemed to shift in an instant. His voice turned into a command, the deep timber straining in a way I didn’t recognize. “Keep going.”
It took me about five seconds too long to realize what I was doing. A noise, something between a whimper and a plea, squeaked out of my throat as I went to jerk my hand away, but Leander caught me by the elbow, drawing me back in again.
Hazy eyes watched me with such intensity, waiting to see what I would do next, and I felt the swell I held pulse against my palm. I was certain he was about to bring me in for another kiss when—
“Fuck,” Leander groaned, and this time, it wasn’t because of anything I’d done.
My stomach dipped when I recognized the sound of metal grating on metal in the distance. The warehouse doors were rolling up.
But it was still nighttime, as far as I could tell. How early did they start their day?
“Do you think someone noticed I escaped?” I whispered, fighting the urge to gnaw on my lip. If they found us here together, would Leander get into trouble? It was obvious I’d escaped without his help. Perhaps he could say he’d found me on his own and—
“Hurry and get dressed. I think we’d better see what’s going on,” he said like I wasn’t currently palming his sea cucumber, and suddenly, there was a boot in my face.
Ugh.
“Fine, fine.” I could hardly hold back my irritation. Sure, I might have been half-soaked and freezing now that I was in my human form, but Leander had stoked a certain fire, and I expected him to extinguish it!Stupid freaking warehouse full of merfolk. I snatched the boot from his hand and rolled off him.
Feeling around for my clothes, I let the icy breeze cool me down. I found everything easily enough, though it was a wonder something hadn’t blown overboard with the weird magic explosion. As I started wiggling my pants back on, Leander caught my eye.
He was just standing there, his chin cast down, sullenly looking at his half-erection like some sort of dejected flounder.
Completely naked.
“Oh my goodness, Lee, your clothes,” I gasped, slipping on a boot.
“Yeah,” he said, his broad shoulders giving me a little shrug. I froze—Leander should have had a flirty joke at the ready. Had the kiss already changed the dynamic between us? I felt my lips sink into a frown as I laced up my boots.
“So, what are we gonna—Oh, have you seen my knife?” I kicked around the dark corners of the boat, but I couldn’t locate the blade anywhere. Had it fallen overboard? I let out a long sigh. Good thing I’d stashed away half a dozen other knives I’d found sitting around the warehouse. Too bad for the next unfortunate soul to venture into the storehouse for a sandwich, though. They were going to be pretty upset when they realized they had no way to spread their nut cream.
Flipping open one of the boat’s built-in storage compartments, Leander rummaged around inside before pulling out a wad of netting.
“You’re joking,” I said, stifling a laugh as I watched him fight to untangle the mass. The threads looked stiff with dry rot, but it would do for some sort of makeshift cover-up. That is, if Leander wasn’t a prince. Would his pride really let him drape something so ridiculous around his hips? He’d be better off walking back completely nude. Looking at him, there certainly wasn’t any part of him to be ashamed of. He glimmered like a freaking statue carved by Poseidon’s own hands.
“Let’s go see what’s going on,” he grumbled, collecting the netting around his waist. My jaw snapped shut. Okay, something had definitely changed with him.
Stepping to the edge of the boat, Leander reached up for a slimy wooden plank and catapulted himself up onto the pier. My heart skipped when his hand didn’t immediately reach back down for mine, but before I could stretch up to grab onto the pier for myself, powerful arms came for me.
“Come on,” he called down, but his voice didn’t ring as pleasantly in my ears as it should have. He sounded deadened. Somehow cold. I reluctantly took his hands, and when his strength drew me up, his arms wound around me like he was refusing to let me go again.
“Don’t worry,” he whispered in a voice so pained and gravelly that it sent shivers through me. “No matter what happens, I won’t let him hurt you.”
14
Leander
Why were they opening the warehouse so early? There’s no way Father would be awake unless—
“Whose car is that?” Claira whispered, peeling off the arms I’d fixed around her. She rose to get a better look.
“A car?” I straightened up on my feet to squint at the warehouse in the distance as well. Although sound had made it clear that the rolling doors were open, the lights inside were off, and I couldn’t make out whatever she saw.
Fuck.This wasn’t good.
“No clue.” I swung in front of her, breaking her focus, and hiked up the netting around my hips. “But I’ll go check, so you stay here.” It wasn’t a suggestion. I needed to see who was here before they discovered her first and—
